A’s pitch bold plan for stadium

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The Oakland A's present the team's long-awaited vision for a new ballpark. The plan calls for the purchase of about 100 acres stretching from 66th Avenue to High Street.

The A's ballpark plan calls for the purchase of about 100 acres stretching from 66th Avenue to High Street and includes a residential development and shopping mall.

Lewis Wolff, managing partner of the Oakland Athletics, presents the team's long-awaited vision for a new ballpark. The plan calls for the purchase of about 100 acres stretching from 66th Avenue to High Street.

OAKLAND — The Oakland Athletics don’t just want to build a new ballpark, they want to build an entire neighborhood.

Team managing partner Lewis Wolff pitched that message Friday as he outlined an ambitious redevelopment plan to transform a rundown warehouse district into a bustling mini-city anchored by an intimate, 35,000-seat stadium.

The entire development would stretch from 66th Avenue to High Street and include outlet-type shops surrounding a plaza, thousands of residential units, a new BART station and the $300 million to $400 million ballpark.

“Everyone benefits if we can take an older area and recast it into a nicer and more modern activity,” Wolff told the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority. “A mixed-use kind of an approach, we can use that to help pay for the facility.”

Wolff promised not to raid public coffers to get the job done but stressed the importance of governmental support in the way of entitlements, real estate tax incentives and negotiations with property owners in the 100 or so acres picked by the team for redevelopment.

“We think government has a lot of currency that isn’t money,” he said. “There are things you can waive, there are things that we can pay back.”

While government officials were supportive of the idea, with City Councilmember Larry Reid (Elmhurst-East Oakland) staking his political career on it,some cautioned the project would take considerable time and work to complete.

More than 30 property owners would have to see their businesses bought and relocated, a BART station would have to be built, and companies would have to support the team through tickets and suites, Wolff and government officials said.

Wolff said he would not try to take land through eminent domain but instead try to appeal to property owners’ community spirit and negotiate fair market prices for the land.

“We are not here to ask you to bully people out of their property,” Wolff said. “Maybe there are some people who are community-orientated and who would step back and support this.”

In fact, Wolff said, if property owners refuse to sell, the deal would probably fail because the team wants the project done quickly.

And then there is the BART station, another aspect of the plan Wolff said is necessary for its success.

Under Wolff’s plan, a BART station between the Fruitvale and Coliseum stations would be built to service both the new ballpark and the housing development.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said it is possible for such a station to be built, but estimated it could cost at least $70 million.

That estimate is based on construction costs for a future West Dublin station. The West Dublin station, however, was planned when BART built the tracks, he said.

In addition, Johnson said, BART would have to buy at least 10 additional train cars to service the station and residential units and would ask Wolff and the team to pay for them. That cost could be as much as $40 million.

City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente (Glenview-Fruitvale), considered a key player in future talks and a mayoral candidate, continued to push for another location but said he likes the idea presented by the A’s.

“I’m going to reserve my opinion on whether it is the best site or not,” De La Fuente said. “It is a dream, but that is how everything starts. As a responsible elected official, I have the responsibility to look at this site and work with the A’s.”

That work should begin immediately, as both Oakland and Alameda County begin to look at who owns property in the area and whether they are willing to part with it.

Wolff said he would like a firm plan for development in place by opening day next year.

If it’s not possible to secure the entire site, Wolff said, the plan could still work with a stadium near 66th Avenue and a shopping plaza in front of it. But he would need a commitment from Oakland and Alameda County that he could build a residential community somewhere in the area.

Wolff also left open the possibility of finding another location, but noted “the most desirable option … the greatest impact, would be to put the venue in downtown Oakland.”

The city had previously suggested building a ballpark in its “uptown” neighborhood, which would have included the Fox Theater as part of the stadium. That option was killed a few years ago after Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown chose to support a housing development built by Forrest City.

With the downtown location already taken, Wolff said the next-best place in Oakland is the 66th Avenue-to-High Street plot.

He said the location works for a ballpark because it has access to BART, is close to the freeway and can take advantage of the existing Coliseum parking lot during game days.

The park would have only two tiers of seating, a condominium or hotel in left-center field and one of the largest scoreboards in the major leagues in center field.

It would resemble in some ways the outfield in San Diego’s new Petco Park, with two building-like structures both in center field and in left field. But it would also have the feeling of a Wrigley Field or Fenway Park with an open concourse and a roof-like overhang over the seats behind home plate.

And for the bleacher bums, the bleacher section would be shaped to resemble a giant A.

Wolff said the stadium would be designed to have separate “neighborhoods,” such as a family section to cater to those wishing to bring their children to the game but not spend their life savings doing so.

Wolff also suggested any naming rights for the park would not go to a company trying to hawk a consumer product.

“You truly are someone who has an incredible vision,” Reid said. “If we lose the A’s, we have no one to blame but ourselves. I support this site 110 percent, and I’m willing to put my political career on the line.”

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